Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 8th, 2017

[Faisal Khan Suri]

There have been about 60 incidents that were reported to law enforcement agencies, with the Edmonton Police Service hate crime unit. Each and every one of them that could be perceived as a hate crime has been looked into. This is where, in our recommendations, we allude to section 318 of the Criminal Code, where there is some ambiguity in terms of what determines a hate crime. People don't understand that. We want to work on that to help them understand the fact that when you report an incident.... There is the case of a gentleman holding a noose and pointing it to two hijabi women, and singing the national anthem. To us, that's a problem. It's a problem to me as a Canadian, as an Edmontonian, and as an Albertan, yet there was no charge.

Again, the goal is to eliminate the confusion about what this is and to help you understand, and then see what we can do about that.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Were any of the cases successfully charged?

[Faisal Khan Suri]

I believe about five of them have been.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

That's five out of the 400. Thank you.

Please, carry on.

[Aurangzeb Qureshi]

I'll address the rest of your questions.

There has been, from our perspective, a very positive development where people do trust certain NGOs. They have trust issues with law enforcement—I think Faisal alluded to that earlier—so they are willing to use us as a liaison. We don't replace 911. We emphasize that we don't replace law enforcement, but we can serve as a bridge. That's what we are.

We've worked with the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, which is also based in Edmonton. The Alberta Federation of Labour is also very supportive of our initiatives, as is, of course, law enforcement itself. We've worked with many organizations, not just Muslim organizations but mainstream organizations. Organizations of other faiths have worked with us, because, in the end, we are all in this together. Discrimination is not limited to Muslims, and that's something that we want to address, as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have two minutes, Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

What about the national plan?

[Faisal Khan Suri]

Our goal was always to make sure that we solidify a proper foundational process internally, a consistent process, and then roll that out. We are in the midst of creating some synergies and collaborating with other organizations to make this a national plan. As Mr. Virani alluded to, we need to gather qualitative data, put it together, make some sense out of it, and then drive strategic planning around it. That's what we are working on right now. Hopefully in 2018 we will have something coming out.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

That's not to say that we shouldn't have a national strategy in the meantime, until that data is collected, because there are many other things we can do even without sufficient data.

[Faisal Khan Suri]

Right. The hotline was just a start. Again, we need to create more and more mechanisms where we can eradicate this misunderstanding of the term “Islamophobia” and help educate people.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

On the question of resourcing, should the federal government do this as a national plan, and thus resource across the country in collaboration with NGOs to get this work done?

[Aurangzeb Qureshi]

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 30 seconds, Ms. Kwan, if you want to use them.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes, I do.

In terms of the process, an accountability mechanism, a reporting mechanism within the national plan would be essential as well, so that we can report back to the community about what has been done and get feedback to improve the plan, adjust the plan, and resource the plan to move forward.

[Aurangzeb Qureshi]

Yes, it's one of those exercises where we have to keep going back to see what data is updated and then use that data to look at new ways to address issues. The data is always changing, and you can always come back to it. It's an evolving thing, so you have to keep improving your processes, improving the solutions, and finding new ways to solve problems. Discrimination is one of those things that are always evolving, always changing, and the challenges are always different. You have to keep up with it to eventually eliminate it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

We will go to Anju Dhillon, from the Liberals, for seven minutes, please.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you to all our witnesses for being here today.

My questions will be mostly for the Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council.

Since the creation of your association, have you seen a decrease in hate crimes based on religion or race?

[Faisal Khan Suri]

We've definitely seen a rise in awareness, and that is one of our biggest goals. There is a rise in the educational sessions that we hold to eliminate and eradicate any misunderstandings they've come to. We understand the fact that we are talking about a phobia—not to take away, respectfully, in terms of the terminology that we have come up with here in the committee hearings today. People who have arachnophobia just have a fear of spiders.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Right.

[Faisal Khan Suri]

That's what it is. We are not going too much into the terminology of what it really is, or whether they are crazy folk or not. It's just a fear of spiders, and you help them understand that these are just spiders. We are trying to help people understand the fact that we are just Muslims, and that our religion is about peace, love, and harmony. People who come from different cultures do not dictate or define the religion. You could be a bad person as a person alone; you don't have to belong to a certain religion. There are bad people in every single religion out there. There is not one religion that does not have a bad person in it. It does not mean that this religion is bad.

Again, for us, it's about education. It's about awareness and driving that awareness, and we are seeing that increase, absolutely. In that sense, we are seeing a decrease in terms of hate. We see it every day, and it's happening now.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Do you work with other organizations?

[Faisal Khan Suri]

Absolutely. As I said, it's always going to be a collaborative effort. It's the way it can be. Again, in Alberta we collaborate with other organizations. On the national side of it, we do that as well.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Such as other religious organizations...?

[Faisal Khan Suri]

That's right. We've done it with the Jewish community, the Christian faith communities. That's what we are doing, absolutely, to break down the barriers.

[Aurangzeb Qureshi]

We've worked closely with the Mennonite centre on the Syrian refugee crisis. We have continued to work with the Sikh community, because they suffer. Sometimes we forget that they are also one of the main victims of Islamophobia. Islamophobia is not just discrimination against Muslims; it's discrimination against people who are perceived as Muslims, which is a form of racism. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in North America, in the west, are people of colour, so it does become a racist phobia.